The 19-year-old killed in a crash in Welcome Bay yesterday has been named as Karanbir Singh.

Karanbir, a student of Welcome Bay, was killed when the red Holden Astra he was a passenger in lost control on Welcome Bay Road, near Faith Bible College, colliding with a mobile library bus at about 9am.

The Holden Astra crashed with a mobile library bus yesterday morning.

The driver of the car, Gurdeep Singh, was taken to Tauranga Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

Karanbir belonged to Hothiya in the TarnTaran district of Punjab and had arrived in New Zealand in June on a student visa, reports SinghStation.net.

They also add that both Gurdeep and Karanbir had left for work but were returning home due to the rain.

Karanbir's body will be sent back to India once a post mortem is complete.

Police say initial indications are that the car lost control when rounding a bend, crossing the centre line and crashing with the bus, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says police would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the crash or seen the red Holden Astra prior to the incident and who may not have spoken with police.

Witnesses are being asked to phone Constable Pete Simmons at Tauranga Police Station on: 577 4300.

The mobile library bus involved in the accident remains out of action and Tauranga City Council says they have made arrangements to automatically renew borrowed items.

'For the next week at least, a library car will be at each of the scheduled stops to receive returned items for Mobile Library customers,” says a council spokesperson. 'We don't know how long the bus will be out of service.”